Hi guys!
I'm Milan from Hungary! I am a complete noob in electronics, but I know the basics of lasers.. (sorry for my english in advance)
A week ago or so I re-discovered lasers and this forum and I read a lot...
Now I'm about to build my first laser from a broken DVD burner!
I extracted the two diodes from a [SH-S203D].

Both has a small glass in front of them.(maybe IR filters) Can/Should I use them for something or just throw them away? Can it be seen from the picture wich one is the IR and the red?
I would like to build the simlest driver I can, and I found this: [3$ driver]. I would get 250mA with a 5 ohm resistor, right? Will the stock heatsink be enough for 250mA? How much current can this(the red) diode handle with a decent heatsink (safely w/ big lifespan)? and how much mW would I get? also what battery should I use for this driver? 10440?

If I dont do the 3$ driver, then the other option would be [this build].
But then I have to remove the stock heatsink... Can I do it [this way] (and the "solder blob" method for the ribbons)??
Would this diode work with the stock driver of that flashlight? I've read 20x-24x burners work with that project and mine is a 20x if I'm right.
(If you can recommend some other easy builds, then please provide a link.)

My last question what is an open/closed short/long can diode? What's the difference between them? How to decide if it's open or closed? I've read closed ones can handle more current, but I'm not sure...

Thanks in advance and sorry for my noob questions and long post!
Milan